LIMITED WORSHIP

MAIN TEXT

Exodus 8:28 NKJV

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

Exodus 10:11 NKJV

11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

exodus 10:

Exodus 10:24 NKJV

24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”

exodus 10:24

INTRO

If there is one thing we can be sure about it, it’s that we were created to worship God. We have this need built in our DNA. Adam did it, Noah did it, all the Patriarchs did it, and we will continue doing it forever.

Our lives should not be about having, and it’s not about being, it’s not about belonging, it’s about worshipping!

When the Lord freed the People of Israel from the bondage in Egypt, He did so the Nation could 1. be an exclusive Nation to worship Him again, and 2. be unchained after 430 years of oppression and slavery.

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

2 Peter 2:9 NKJV

9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

In fact, worship is much more beneficial to us than anybody else. That is why Satan hates worship.

Matthew 4:8–9 NKJV

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

matthew 4:8-9

"We must never rest until everything inside us worships God." A. W. Tozer

But... what is worship??

“Worship is an act of complete and uninterrupted surrender and service to God, in order to have communion with Him and enjoy a fulfilled life in Him and with everyone who surrounds us.”

In fact, worship is much more beneficial to us than anybody else, and even God. That is why Satan hates worship. He wants to be worshipped, that’s why he even asked that to Jesus:

Matthew 4:8–9 NKJV

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

It’s important to say that God doesn’t “NEED” our worship...

C. S. Lewis used to struggle with the idea of an infinite God almost begging for worship from His subjects, like a puny potentate who needed the constant reinforcing of his subjects’ loyalty.

Eventually, Lewis came to see that God does not “need” anything from us, and our failure to worship Him takes nothing from Him. He would write, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”

The apostle Paul describes it in this way:

Acts 17:24–25 NKJV

24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

THE CONTEXT OF OUR TEXT

Here in these passages, the Children of Israel were “negotiating” coming out of Egypt through Moses and Aaron.

Some plagues had already been in place against Egypt and the Egyptians, and out of fear, Pharaoh made some “propositions” to the People of God:

“Well, I will let you go, BUT… maybe we can make some “arrangements” in how you will worship the Lord your God.

Satan is very cunning, and he was using Pharaoh. He wanted the worship TO FAIL!

2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT

11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

2 corinthians

That’s why the title of this message is:

LIMITED WORSHIP

Satan cannot hinder us from worshipping altogether, therefore he offers us limitations in our worship, so our relationship with the Father may exist, but superficial, incomplete and non-committed.

But in which ways does he try? How can our worship be limited??

But in which ways did he try?

1. LIMITED INTENSITY

Exodus 8:28 NKJV

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

Exodus 10:11 NKJV

11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Worship is fighting, it should be seen as our top priority, before anything in our lives.

Exodus 8:28 NKJV

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

EXODUS 10:

So many times we don’t go “very far”, and never experience the full potential and joy that worship can bring. Some Christians never experience deeper things that only a true and committed worshiper can have.

How long do we worship daily? How far we go? How resilient are we?

The Lord wants us to go beyond...

Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV

3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Isaiah 1:19 NKJV

19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;

When Mary poured out the perfume of the alabaster jar, she did her BEST, she did with intensity.

BEING FERVENT...

Romans 12:11 NKJV

11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

If we approach the Word with a hunger to be satisfied, we will be satisfied every time. Effective worship begins with a hunger for God.

The French have a proverb, which states, “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.” It is hard to enjoy a meal when you are not yet hungry. But, when you are hungry, anything tastes good. If we approach the Lord with a hunger to be satisfied, we will be satisfied every time. Effective worship begins with a hunger for God.

Exodus 8:24 NKJV

24 And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

“An intense worship is the devotion that goes beyond the ordinary, is the one that denies surrender to the vices of the daily routine, and that finds a time and space to worship the Creator of heaven and earth and enjoy His fellowship.”

But Pharaoh proposed also a second limitation...

2. LIMITED PRIESTHOD

Exodus 10:24 NKJV

24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”

Exodus 10:11 NKJV

11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Exodus 8:28 NKJV

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

EXODUS 10:

As a “royal priesthood”, we have 3 main duties:

EXODUS 10:

Intercession;

To be a link/connection between men and Jesus;

Being a reference of holiness.

Pharaoh wanted to DIVIDE, because he knew that worship was always intended for the WHOLE FAMILY.

As we saw last Sunday, the church is not a country club where only exclusive and vip people meet, when God thinks about worship, he thinks about the family serving together. As a matter of fact, even before God created the universe, he thought about His family! The whole universe was created for a family of worshipers!

The Bible is very clear about the danger of NOT being careful enough on this subject. Even men of God like Jacob, Eli and David suffered the consequences of failing in their priesthood.

In the other hand, Job is the perfect example of effective priesthood.

Pharaoh knew that without their families, there would NOT be complete focus.

Sometimes we are the first ones to say: “Well, if they do not want to worship the Lord, that’s their problem, I am fine...” This is the wrong approach!! You are a priest! We should NEVER give up on worshiping as a family!

But Pharaoh proposed also a third limitation...

3. LIMITED RESOURCES

Exodus 10:24 NKJV

24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”

Exodus 8:28 NKJV

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”

HIMN “I SURRENDER ALL” - We sing it, but in reality we have difficulty surrending “everything” as part of our worship to God.

The last proposition of Pharaoh was very bold: “Leave your possessions out of it”.

When the Lord decided to give, He gave it all, His only Son.

As christians, we have a lot of difficulty in understanding that the Lord demands priority in everything, including our resources. God doesn’t need our resources, but he is absolutely picky about our faithfulness.

It’s interesting to remember that when the People of Israel went to the desert, they had resources to make offerings to the Lord, (Moses had to stop them from doing it) and even today, it is very, very rare to see a Jew that is not financially blessed.

When Moses answered Pharaoh, his answer should be an inspiration to all of us as well:

Exodus 10:26 NKJV

26 Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.”

Satan is NOT interested in our faithfulness, he is willing to see half-commitment, half-results, half-blessings and half-worship!

ILLUSTRATION

There was a man who went to Israel to visit his family and took the opportunity to visit some historic places: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Jordan River ...

When he arrived at the Sea of Galilee, he decided to take a boat trip and asked the price for the man who rented the boats:

The guy goes to Israel to visit his family and takes the opportunity to visit some historic places: Jerusalem, Belem, the Jordan River ... When he arrives at the Sea of Galilee, he decides to take a boat trip and asks the price for a guy who rented boats : - Eighty dollars an hour! - Eighty dollars? Are you crazy? is too expensive! - But this is the lake where Jesus walked on water! - You could too! With the boat for that price!

- One hundred and fifty dollars an hour!

- Eighty dollars? Are you crazy? is too expensive!

- Well, this is the lake where Jesus walked on water!

- Of course he did!! How could he afford to rent a boat for this price???

How much of the resources that God has put in our hands are we willing to use for His glory?

FINAL APPLICATIONS

Intensity, Priesthood and Resources continue to be today, the great struggles when it comes to worship. Satan will always try to use the same weapons in order to limit us to reach the full potential that a life of complete surrender can bring.

Notice that in all cases Pharaoh suggested a “non-integral surrender, a half-way commitment, a limited worship”, and also in all cases, Moses DENIED IT! Moses knew he could not compromise worship! When it comes to God, it’s all or nothing!

However amazing it might sound, God SEEKS worshipers!

John 4:23 NKJV

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

John 4:23–24 NKJV

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

and again...

john 4:23

Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV

30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

At the end of everything, at the climax of human history, worship will still be the main focus:

Revelation 5:13 NKJV

13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Let us NOT negotiate our worship unto the Lord!

It will take TIME to really learn how to worship, and it only happens spiritually, we cannot worship if it’s not through a born-again spirit and in truth, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Think about how you worship the Lord:

Is it intense? How far do you go?

Does it include your family and loved ones?

Do you worship using all your God-given resources?

May the Lord help us to live a life of worship in its fullness: intense, family-oriented and in complete surrender of everything we are and have, for the glory of His Name, amen!